Callused Hands
by Stanley Gazemba

Kenyan coffee is renowned all over the world for its distinctive quality and hence reputation. It graces tables of the finest eateries from London to New York, and has been romanticized by those who visited the country and were enchanted by it. At one point it was the leading contributor to the country’s foreign revenue. Unknown to many in the world the slavery-like conditions under which it is produced. Callused Hands explores some of these difficult conditions under which this precious ’black gold’ is produced, and the unseen faces that grovel under the surface in ensuring that gourmet consumers in the West are fed.

"This is a great book! It makes me feel like it is a fresh and imaginative story that makes sense the entire time of reading it. It is well written and exceptionally compelling." - Sheena Brennan - Publishing Editor

"The novel celebrates the spirit and bravery of disempowered women who can, together, tip the balance in favour of workers and justice. This is a compassionate and ultimately triumphant story. - Linda Cracknell, Writer-in-Residence at Edinburgh Sick Kids Hospital

"Stanley Gazemba’s Calloused Hands is an exciting work that re-imagines hopelessness. In a sluggish almost non-committal fashion, the novel creates ground for the readers to take a peek into the lives of the ’wretched of the earth.’ One feels as though he has been sucked into that bottomless pit from which the characters are struggling to come up for air. The never-ending suffering becomes a bitter-sweet element that angers and then provokes one to want to change the story- to make it sweeter for all." - Dr. Fred Mbogo, Moi University